Games World of Puzzles September 2019

September can be a bittersweet month: Its arrival signals both the end of summer and the start of the new school year. School-age kids are understandably bummed, while parents feel—let’s be honest—a little bit of relief. It’s precisely times like these that require something you can depend on, like another issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES.

Our back-to-school issue is top-heavy with puzzles—precisely the sort of thing to limber up the brain after a summer of rest and relaxation. If you like logic puzzles, we have plenty. “Rainbow Logic” (page 41), a variation on Mastermind, is sure to get you thinking. Then there’s “The Deadwood Gang Calls It Quits” (page 36), an illustrated tale of the Old West by Joe Dean. You’ll have to hang up your six-shooter and pick up your pencil to solve that one. And as if that’s not enough, you can also try your hand at Ryan Langewisch’s “Vectrix” (page 64) or “Nurikabe” (page 13) from the folks at Conceptis Puzzles.

Of course, some of you think better with the right side of your brain. You’ll want to check out the latest collection of Eyeball Benders (page 34). Mrcela Mladen returns to test your powers of observation with the latest installment of his spot-the-difference puzzle, “Change of Art” (page 42). And Erich Friedman follows up his “Emoji Books” puzzle from our April issue with “Emoji Films” (page 40). Half the fun is figuring out the titles of the movies; the other half is watching them!

We don’t want you to get the idea that we’re neglecting word puzzles, though. In fact, we have two choice specimens for you: Raymond Young’s “Cross Choice” (page 29) and Patrick Berry’s “Some Assembly Required” (page 50). Between those and our usual assortment of crossword puzzles and variations, you’ll have lots to keep you busy.

Speaking of busy, it turns out that those youngsters we hear so much about are doing way more than goofing off on Instagram and playing Fortnite. Our Scrabble correspondent, Scott Appel, has an in-depth look at the most recent North American School Scrabble Championship (page 38). Trust me, these kids are good. Real good. And they’re not the only precocious kids profiled in this issue. Raymond Simon offers a look at the eight amazing youngsters who recently won the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee in his article “Un-Bee-lievable!” (page 48).

Well, readers, you have plenty of homework—get to it!